A Texas high school student is suing her school district after officials canceled a production of “Little Shop of Horrors” rather than let her play the male lead.
asserted
her → sue → lead
Ana Mota, 17, a senior at South Grand Prairie High School, and her parents filed a federal lawsuit against Grand Prairie Independent School District and Superintendent Gabriel Trujillo.
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Mota → file → District
They accuse the district of violating Title IX, which prohibits sex discrimination in federally funded education programs, The Dallas Morning News reports.
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News → accuse → programs
Mota was cast as Seymour, the musical’s lead character, after auditioning for the role.
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Mota → cast → role
But district officials later told her she could no longer play the character because she is female, according to the lawsuit.
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she → tell → lawsuit
“I was excluded from participation in an education program receiving federal financial assistance because I am a female.
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I → exclude → assistance
Maybe it wasn’t the intent of the district, but it is what happened,” Mota told the school board during a public meeting Thursday, KERA News reports.
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News → happen → meeting
“Little Shop of Horrors” is a horror-comedy about Seymour, a shy florist who discovers a strange plant that feeds on human blood and grows increasingly powerful.
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that → discover → blood
As the plant demands more victims, Seymour struggles to balance his growing fame and romance with coworker Audrey against the plant’s deadly appetite.
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Seymour → demand → appetite
The district ultimately scrapped the production and replaced it with Disney’s “Frozen.”
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district → scrap → Frozen
The district cited Senate Bill 12, a 2025 Texas law that restricts certain diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives and LGBTQ-related programming in public schools.
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that → cite → schools
The musical’s themes, including an abusive relationship between characters, were also reportedly concerning to officials.
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themes → include → officials
However, the district has not publicly identified a specific provision of the law that explicitly bars a female student from playing Seymour.
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that → identify → Seymour
“SB 12 contains no text that can reasonably be read to require an actor’s biological sex to match the sex of a fictional scripted character,” the suit argues.
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suit → contain → character
“She was portraying a scripted fictional character in an official school theatrical production — a centuries-old theatrical tradition.”
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She → portray → production
The complaint asks a federal judge to restore the musical, reinstate Mota as Seymour and prevent the district from excluding her from the role because of her sex.
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complaint → ask → sex
The dispute began after four days of auditions, when Mota was selected to play Seymour, who develops a romance with Audrey in the musical.
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who → begin → musical
On October 6, her teacher told her district officials had raised concerns about casting a female student in the male role, according to KERA News.
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officials → tell → News
The school had already cut a scripted kiss between Seymour and Audrey from the production.
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school → cut → production
Mota was offered a different part.
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Mota → offer → part
But after meeting with Mota and her mother, Nancy Jimenez, on October 8, the district decided to cancel the entire production.
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district → meet → production
The Independent has contacted the Grand Prairie ISD for comment.
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Independent → contact → comment
Other North Texas school districts have canceled high school plays over similar casting or subject matter.
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districts → cancel → casting
In 2023, Sherman ISD, located about an hour and 20 minutes North of Grand Prairie, canceled “Oklahoma!” after a transgender teenage boy landed a leading role, according to KERA News.
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boy → locate → News
A year later, Keller ISD, about 45 minutes north of Grand Prairie, pulled “The Laramie Project,” a play about the 1998 murder of gay college student Matthew Shepard.
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ISD → pull → Shepard
Both districts eventually reversed course and allowed the shows, according to the outlet.
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districts → reverse → outlet
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